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[Nytician]

KURUKO

UPDATED: 01.08.2013 Go to Final Post

What does the name Kuruko mean?

Kuruko is the name of the JavaScript based computer game I'm coding.

What type of game is Kuruko?

A sandbox game.

What are the main features of Kuruko?

Construct worlds by gathering resources to build 'Projects' such as, housing, various facilities and automation options!

Skills you can build as you advance into the game for example; cooking, construction, mining and more!

Exploration consisting of finding interesting minerals and rare items, puzzle solving, and making discoveries!

'Kuruko Science' such as testing materials in one of your constructed project buildings
 and unleashing new possibilities into your already rich world!

Completely open source project, allowing you to fully customize and mod your game should you wish to do so!

Can you provide us with a screenshot of current progress?

Check the most recent post from me for current screenshots!

When will the game be available?

I aim to release an Alpha build late Summer.

BLOG: http://kurukodev.tumblr.com/

I'll update this post anyhow so not need to visit the blog, its just if you want to follow the less interesting parts in between bigger dev updates.

If you are interested in this game let me know what you like/don't like and we can talk it out and come to a conclusion .

Old Reference: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=103169.0

[Nytician]

Just a quick update, decided it would be good for you guys to see the UI.



Progress Update:

+Text Manager Almost Done
+Command Manager Almost Done

Next Up: Adding early game such as world generation, resource gathering and basic projects & inventory management.

[inEQUALITY]

Just chiming in to say I'm watching with interest! 

[lemmily]

I am also watching with interest

[Nytician]

Oh cool thanks for your 'interest' heh.

Just a quick update today been updating a selection of things under the hood but three bigger changes.

+New UI
+Changing from a command driven system to just taking keyboard input. (For example, press I for inventory etc)
+Less emphasis on the text... sounds silly but I think it will be a lot more fun for the user to be dealing with items and projects rather than reading things. The new layout will make this much easier and give me a nice large playing field for implementing non-text features.

All boring stuff right now but I have been drafting out various features on paper aside from this and know where its going.

New Screenshot:



Let me know your opinions or any questions.

Thanks,

Sean.

[Ameablable]

Look really cool ptw.

[Mephansteras]

Sounds fun. Posting to see where this goes.

[Valtam]

To the OP,

This is pretty recent and so far looks good, you already set the aim for a clean, unified graphical style, got to love those pixels, even if some of the icons look sort of embossed.

A lot of questions remain unanswered, many of them not even formulated. This is where criticism comes by.

At first glance, the FAQ entry "What does the name Kuruko mean?" is a valid question, so is that an idiom? A word in another language? A word that has some meaning through some sort of in-game language? Sounds japanese to me, partly because of phonemes, but it would be great to know the actual answer. It's already known that it is a game. A promising one at that.

The game is a sandbox, but judging from a few things visible in the UI looks like some sort of adventure game where you control a single character. How wrong am I? Unless those stats, the hunger/thirst/stamina, are being calculated as a whole between all your characters, builders or whatever you control. Gameplay wise, there's currently no hint at how the game will be seen and experienced, it could be either overhead and grid-based, or a third person view. Surely it's not a text-based approach, because you wrote a concise update about that.

How are reactions between materials going to work? I assume there will be some good-fashioned crafting, but I could be wrong, and also surprised. Maybe you have something around world physics to work with, or another kind of game mechanic. Ahh, that was the word I was trying to type since the beginning of this post.

Sort of a trivial question, but is this thought to be a single-player game? Or a multiplayer experience? It's just that the core game could change drastically when you're choosing between them, even when those aren't the only choices: looking at our patron god, DF isn't built as a multiplayer, but has managed to create some weird and wonderful stuff around that (and around our renewed sense of existence, truth be told). I hope this interest helps in some way, but try to lay out some concepts, basic ideas, worldbuilding and all that stuff sensible to discussion.

New games are always fun. Don't let this flame die, and carry on.

[Nytician]

Hi Valtam,

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a good post great questions. So I'll try reply the best I can but apologies its late at night so this post might not make sense all the way through!

I haven't posted too much yet because the basic game concept ideas etc are still bouncing around on paper and in my head.

Kuruko is just a name I brainstormed and came up with, I wanted it to sound like a project but also game'y' and decided this would work nothing more profound I'm afraid.

The game will be and has always planned to be a single player experience with emphasis on game play rather than graphics and as such it is not a 2D game in the sense of the word, its more set out like an indepth 'pokedex' I suppose. (i.e no scrolling world, more visual data changing depending on your actions) Below is a more recent screenshot from today:



The game play will primarily take place in the biggest box there, and then aside from this you have auxiliary interfaces like the one labelled in the picture. Text entry will be allowed but the game will now run predominantly on keyboard shortcuts (for example 'I' for inventory etc). As for how this game is sandbox; you get to choose what to do, the basic game will always start with finding resources and building 'projects', for example a house, a mineral processing facility, scientific research facility etc... the rest of the game will be exploring what these things do, what you can build and how you will manage resources and keep your 'guy' alive. I like the idea of there being a kind of 'science' behind kuruko science, for example a very important resource is K-Gen which you will need to do most things since its very hard for one person to make a skyscraper project for example, yet get enough K-Gen and you'll be able to use this molecule in robot style form. Possibly leading to a periodic table of various resources that can be used and unlock more interesting options in the later game.

Hope that gave a somewhat overview of the type of gameplay I'm going for here...

Crafting? Yes for sure but how this will work yet I'm not sure... you will have an inventory and then projects which require resources but to get more resources you have to build certain projects etc... so for example to refine stone you may need a mineral processing plant. More details when I get to this stage.

Physics wont and can't be implemented unless part of the science feature as the game isn't 2D in the sense of what I think your thinking.

The game will be open source, aside from donations which are welcome ofc heh. You or anyone would be welcome to open the game up and mod it however they like. Maybe when I grow in my coding knowledge and skills I'll implement a modding API, but they can be somewhat restrictive so I might limit it to certain things and any core mods will just have to overwrite stuff.

I have a lot more than this out on paper but I'm trying to balance the idea behind the concept and actually getting noticeable progress done so it doesn't become vapourware.

Sooooo heh, I hope your not dissappointed as this might not be what you were hoping for but this is however the project I am developing. My goal is to focus on gameplay above graphics but to have a unique twist on it with my blocky style that will hopefully keep the game fresh.

Anymore questions let me know!

Thanks again,

Sean.

EDIT:

Just something I remembered and no this isn't an after thought its been there from the start.

The game is somewhat quirky (or will be), so its meant to have some humourous things in there, I already do voice acting so I intend to at least have some voice acted parts there to explain things.

Kuruko itself is the name of the program and the whole game will be played self aware... what I mean by this is that it wont try to pretend and make you feel like your in another world, the game will reference itself as a program and that none of this is real... should be fun to play with actually especially if I can pull it off with the gameplay also.

[Nytician]

Well back to the normal updates, here is a shot from some of today's progress.



Been working on the start of the game and the intro screen etc, there will be a voice acted overview of the game for newer players but if you know what your doing you'll be straight into the main landing screen the 'Kuruko Console'.

[Nytician]

Good Evening,

Been a little while but here's an update on the progress of Kuruko, just wanted to make sure I had something a little interesting to show off.

Since last time:

#Fixed Bugs
#Updated Art
#Added Key Commands
#Display List Scroll Resources
#Added Timers to User Needs
#Added Basic Day/Night Cycle
#Ground Work for Explore System

Screenshots:





Next Up?

#Completing Basic Explore
#Implementing Inventory System

F.A.Q 11.06.2013

Can you enhance on what Kuruko is?

Kuruko is a 2D non-scrolling game where you control everything through various windows. The goal is to manage a world and enjoy life, you choose what you wish to do. Automate the production of various materials through 'projects' (such as farms, energy efficient factories and more), explore the world and find 'locations' that will enhance your life and provide you with rare items and blueprints, delve into 'Kuruko science' and create new elements to change the face of your world.

From the start of the game can you describe what kind of game play you'd expect?

Yup, so from the beginning of the game you'll be greeted with a voice acted introduction to the 'Kuruko project' and its origins followed by the Kuruko Console providing you with a list of things you can do with your program (world). Initially most people will want to build projects to build a working world. You'd head into 'World Explorer' and then 'Explore' to start finding the basic materials and resources for a house and food. You would press the 'X' key and wait for a short timer to complete which would then show you what you've found (not just items, but locations, artifacts, 'glitches' etc). Next you'd proceed to the 'Projects' page and choose from the available blueprints, which would show you the resources needed to build. (Emphasis is on the projects, items and exploration and less on crafting recipes although the way you unlock blueprints should be interesting in itself).

So in conclusion I'm half writing all of this for myself to keep my mind on the right direction but things are shaping up nicely, I'm pleased with the progress of 'Explore' and think it'll be great fun to see it come together.

As usual leave your comments and thoughts below, thanks!

[smaadmin]

Nice work, eagerly keeping my eye on this one!

[Mephansteras]

Looking good!

[Nytician]

Hi just a quick update to show i'm still alive.

Nothing much to showcase aside from a few UI improvements and the change from the world being a random place to being static.

The goal is still to allow you to modify and add things you want to it, but I wanted more 'lore' and story behind the game and although it will be sandbox in nature I think this will add a new dimension, especially with the 'maps' feature which will show the world and give you options!

Screen Shot: (The white rectangle will be where maps are displayed and below will be the menu leading you to inventory etc)



Questions welcome, but I'd rather you wait until I post a proper update showcasing where things are.

Just a quick change in input also... its now primarily mouse based rather than keyboard aside from a few hotkeys.

[Nytician]

Good Evening everyone,

I know right now its a bit confusing as to whats happening but finally the game is starting to take shape and progress is being made steadily.

Nothing more than a sneak peek today but here is the start of the first map. [Unfinished W.I.P]

It still requires shading to be finished and the addition of places you can interact with (such as caves, animals, 'K-Gen Outlets', mines, fishing spots, woodland etc)



More coming soon but a brief note, the game will still be 'sandbox' in terms of you decide what to do, I am just incorperating some RPG aspects and as originally you wouldn't even see the world, this has been changed so that the world is static but visible with various areas to explore and gather resources from. Projects will still play a role but it will interlink to the world which I will explain in another post in the near future.